Musical transposition-chart.



PATENTED MAR. 20, 1906.

1pc. BURTUN. MUSICAL TRANsPosITIoN CHART.

Inventor r f 'tomegs APPLIOATION-IILED 00T. 6, 1904.

s BUE UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MUSICAL TRANsPosli-loN-cH-ART.

Specification of `Letters Patent.

Patented. March 20, 1906.

Application filed October 6, 1904. ySerial No. 227,412.

To a/ZZ whom it may con/cern:

Be it known that I, RosooE O. BURTON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Tarrytown, in the county of Westchester and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Musical Transpositionha'rt, of which the following is a specication.

This invention relates to musical transposition, and has for its object to provide an improved chart for use in connection with the keyboard of pianos and organs so as to mechanically indicate what keys should be struck to produce both major and minor chords in any key without taking'into consideration the signature of the key.

Another object of the invention is to clearly distinguish between the major indications and the minor indications, so as to avoid confusion in changing from major chords to minor chords, and vice versa.

Astill further object of the invention is to clearly indicate several chord changes, both major and minor, in any key and to have the indicators of these changes arranged, in a relation to facilitate the change from one chord to another.

With these and other objects in view the present invention consists in the combination and arrangement `of parts, as will be hereinafter more fully described, shown in the accompanying drawings, and particularly pointed out in the appended claim, it being understood that changes in the form, proportion,`

size, and. minor details may be made within the scope of the claim without 'departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the accompanying drawing there has been shown an elevation of a musical transposition-chart embodying the features of the present invention.

The back or body l of the present/chart is in the form of an oblong stri y of suitable proportions and may be forme of cardboard or other material su'liiciently stiff to permit of the chart being stood on edge at the back of the keys of a piano or organ, so as to be supe ported in an upright position in front of the player to be clearly visible thereto. The lront of the body is divided by oblong borders 2 and 3 into an upper longitudinal section 4, an intermediate section 5, and a lower section 6, the borders and the data appearing therein being printed in contrasting colors. It has been found effective to print the upper section in red .and the intermediate and lower sections in black; The upper section 4 is divided longitudinally or horizontally by means of two parallel lines 7 into three longitudinal columns, and these longitudinal lines are intersected by a plurality of transverse or vertical lines 8, which divide the section into vertical columns, and the.

two sets of columns divide the section into a plurality of blocks. A similar arrangement of`longitudinal lines 9 and transverse lines l0 is employed'in the intermediate section 5, the

'vertical or transverse lines 10 continuing to the'lower edge of the chart.

About midway between the ends of the 'chart a vertical series of the blocks of the upper section 4 are marked as follows, reading from the top to the bottom: Relativ min., ""Mino'r, and Dimi 7th, while the corresponding blocks of the intermediate sections are marked Sub.' dom., Doin 7th, and Tonio In the block immediately to the left of the word Tonicf and as indicated at a is thenumeral 1, which is heavily underscored, and in the upper left-hand corner of the block is a solid circular spot b, and at the respective intervals 4of five, three, and. four blocks to the left of this numeral appear other numerals 1, as indicated at a, a2, and a3, the a3 numeral being underscored and the block thereof having a solid circular spot b, corresponding to the spot b. To the right of the numeral l which .is indicated at a, and at intervals of four, three, and five blocks, respectively, appear the underscored numerals l, designated a4, a5, and a. In the col- -umn below the numeral U1, which is designated a, is an appropriate indeX`as, for instance, an arrow O, pointing to the lower edge of the chart and the words Major stepping.

In the intermediate longitudinal column of the intermediate section 5 and in the fifth block to the left of the block a, as indicated at d, appears the numeral 2, heavily underscored andvprovided in its upper left-hand corner with a solid circular spot e, and at intervals of five, three, and four blocks to the left of the block d appear other numerals 2, as indicated at d, d2, and d3. f At intervals of four, three, and five blocks to the right ofthe block d there are other numerals 2, designated d4, (Z5, and d6.

Beginning with the seventhk block of the upper horizontal column and to the left of the block a, as indicated at f, appears the underscored. numeral 3, and other numerals U 3 arefplaced to the left and the right of this IOO IOS

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block at intervals corresponding to thatl of the subdominant chord.

The manner of using the chart as thus l ardescribed is as follows: The major pointer C is placed directly over the tonic oi any key-as, for instance, C-natural-and it will be Jfound that the underscored numeral 1 to the right of the heavily-underscored numeral 1 are located in alinement above the keys E, G, and C of the keyboard, so that by striking the keys indicated the major chord of C will be produced. Upon reference to the numerals 1 to the lei't of the heavilyunderscored numeral 1, (indicated at (1,) it will be seen that these numerals are in alinement with the keys G, E, and C, which when struck by the left hand produce the chord of C-maj or. In addition to the tonic major chord changes to the dominant and subdominant may be made by striking the keys opposite the numerals 2 and 3, respectively, beginning with the heavily-underscored numerals d and f in the manner hereinbefore described for the row of numerals 1.

The minor chords are indicated upon the same general principle as set forth for the major chords, suitable arbitrary designations or symbols being employed for alinement with the respective keys of the keyboard. It is perferred to have the symbols of one section dii'ler from those of the other section, so as to avoid confusion, and the symbols l'or the minor chord have been arranged in the intermediate longitudinal column of the upper section 4, consisting of an underscored circle 7L, located in the third vertical column to the left of the column C, there being an arrow I located at the bottom of this column, with the words Hminor stepping associated therewith, the arrow and the words, of course, being printed in red to correspond with the minor symbols. To the left of the circle-symbol h and at intervals oi five, four, and three blocks appear the circle-symbols 7L', 7i?, and h3, while at intervals of three, four, and rive blocks to the right of the circle-symbol L appear other circle-symbols h4, h5, and h6. The chord of the diminished seventh is indicated in the lower horizontal column of the upper section by means of the heavilyunderscored cross-symbol t, located at an interval of three blocks to the left oi the circlesymbol h and other cross-symbols disposed at the left and right of the cross-symbol i at intervals in accordance with those of the chord of the diminished seventh. The relative minor chord is indicated in the upper horizontal column of the upper section by means of the symbol designated a, located at an interval of iive blocks to the left of the circle-symbol 7L and consisting of a cross inclosed within a circle and heavily underscored, there being similar symbols to the left and the right of the symbol k, arranged at intervals in accordance with the relative minor chords. y

lt will of course be understood that the minor-section of the chart is employed in the same manner as the major section thereof, the minor indicator l always being in alinement with the proper key of the keyboard, which brings the several minor symbols into proper relation with the other keys. The minor chord is indicated by the symbols t, the relative minor by the symbols 7i', and the diminished seventh by the symbols t.

The solid black spots in the major section of the chart indicate the opposite ends of the respective octaves, and a similar arrangement of red spots m are employed in the ininor section oi' the chart to indicate the ends of the respective octaves and the key note of each chord.

rlhe heavily-underscored symbols indicate that the corresponding key of the keyboard is to be struck by the thumb, while the lighter underscored symbols indicate those keys which should be struck to produce the full chords. lt will here be noted that the lightly-underscored symbols at the'lef't of the chart are disposed at octaves from the corresponding heavily-underscored symbols, indicating that only octaves are to be struck by the left hand. However, the intermediate symbols which are not underscored indicate those keys which may be struck to produce a complete chord with the left hand whenever desired.

Above the chart proper there is provided the representation of a keyboard 1, with all of the keys lettered in accordance with the usual musical nomenclature. There is also provided a table 2 of the signatures of the twelve major keys and a table 3 of' the signatures of the twelve minor keys, including a stati' or sta'il's with the signatures of the several keys appearing thereon in the usual marmer, each signature being lettered in accordance with the key which it designates.

In using the complete chart for playing an accompaniment and assuming that the player is entirely ignorant of musical notation the signature at the beginning of the sheet of music is determined and reference is had to the staffs of the tables 2 and 3 to locate the signature thereon which corresponds to the signature on the sheet of music-say, `for instance, one sharp found in the table 2 and lettered Gn The letter G is located upon the miniature keyboard 1, after which the corresponding key is located upon the keyboard of the piano or organ, and the arrow C of the chart is then placed over the G key of the keyboard and the chart is then in proper position for playing chords in the manner hereinbefore explained.

It will now be understood that the present chart is intended for the use of persons who are entirely ignorant of musical notation as IOO IIO

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well as for the use of those who have slight and also complete knowledge of music, as the playing of accompaniments by the aid of the chart is purely mechanical after the chart has been properly set. The chart can of course be properly set by reference to the key-tables and the miniature key-board without' any understanding whatsoever of the relative arrangement of the keys on the keyh board.

The upright column of the chart containing the expression Relative min. and so on is for the guidance of musicians, while the upright column lettered A B C D E F is for the use of those who are not musicians, the letters being arbitrary distinguishments of the several chord changes.

Having fully described the invention, what is claimed is- A musical chart divided into upper and lower sections, the upper section being provided. with the representation of a miniature keyboard lettered in accordance with the musical nomenclature, and a table of keysignatures expressed graphically and verbally, the/lower section oi" the chart being divided into a series of vertical columns eX- ltending to the bottom of the chart and intersected by two transverse sets of three eolumns each, a tonic-index provided at the lower edge of the chart substantially midway of its ends, the members of one set of transverse columns being provided at opposite sides of the tonic-index with chord-symbols disposed atvmajor intervals, and the other set of transverse columns having chord-symbols disposed at minor intervals, the successive sets of major-chord symbols being disposed at tonic, dominant seventh, and subdominant intervals, and the successive sets of minor-chord symbols being disposed at diminished seventh, minor and relative minor intervals.

In testimony that I claim the foregoingras my own I have hereto aHiXed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

ROSCOE C. BURTON.

Witnesses:

T. B. VAN NORMAN, MARY E. BURTON. 

